Jason Stevens, who abruptly closed his restaurant reBar in early May, faces 3 1/3 to 10 years in prison for failure to pay taxes per a plea agreement with Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson. Mr. Stevens opened his popular restaurant in 2006. He formerly worked as a vice president for Merrill Lynch.

Mr. Stevens’s attorney, Allan Bahn, said that Mr. Stevens is remorseful, “but he has taken responsibility for his actions—that’s the guilty plea today.” As part of the agreement, Mr. Stevens signed restitution documents with the state and the city tax authorities. The amount was in “excess of $6 million dollars,” inclusive of the principal interest and penalties on his tax liability, said Mr. Bahn.

Mr. Stevens is due back in court at the end of July and will begin an agreed upon sentence, serving a minimum of 3 and 1/3 years, he said.

Mr. Bahn provided no comment on the motivations of Mr. Stevens or what caused him to fall into debt. Mr. Stevens is unavailable for comment, he said.

“He has young children,” said Mr. Bahn. “The most difficult thing for him is having to leave his children.”

When Mr. Stevens closed his restaurant, employees say they did not receive a final paycheck and engaged couples say that they lost thousands in wedding deposits and a wedding venue. The restaurant was known as one of the more affordable venues in the city, with a generous package of amenities, according to couples and New York wedding planners. The venue was booked a year in advance, according to former reBar employees. At least 100 couples were affected by the closure and they have created a loose community to help each other find alternative wedding arrangements, according to several brides, grooms and former reBar employees.

But the charges against Mr. Stevens are only related to an investigation of failure to pay taxes, according to Mr. Thompson’s office

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has reached an agreement in principle with Mr. Stevens and his business, Fulton Ferry Market Inc., to pay more than $1 million in restitution to couples who filed consumer complaints with the Attorney General’s office, said a spokeswoman. There were 73 consumer complaints filed with proof of payment. Once an agreement is finalized by a judge, consumers who have not yet come forward will have 120 days to file a complaint and submit proof of payment. The agreement in principal bars Mr. Stevens from working in this area of business in the future.

As far as the Attorney General’s office knows, Mr. Stevens does not have any money. The Attorney General’s office worked with 25 consumers to put stop payments on checks that had not yet been cashed by Mr. Stevens, said a spokeswoman for the office.

The plea reverberated throughout the community of more than 100 couples who say they lost their wedding deposits to Mr. Stevens.

“The Brooklyn D.A. is only out for the interest of the government and not the real victims—the ones left with having to pick up the pieces of money stolen from us,” said Christian Pascarella, an X-ray technician from downtown Brooklyn, who says he paid Mr. Stevens $17,500 toward his October 2015 wedding. He and others are trying to organize a class-action lawsuit but “no lawyer will take the case contingency based on the fact that they are afraid they will have no recovery.”

“Why do I have to hire a lawyer which will cost me thousands of dollars and probably see no return?” said Mr. Pascarella. Mr. Stevens’s assets “should be frozen and confiscated,” he said. “I’m angry at the system that they are letting him get away with what he did to us.”